I was in my early twenties when I first came across the concept of a gap year. I was immediately intrigued by the idea of people having enough money to take an entire “year off” to travel and indulge in other leisurely activities.

At the time, I was a consultant in the early stages of my career, constantly burning the midnight oil in my blindly ambitious race up the corporate ladder. The pay was rewarding, but deep down I was unfulfilled and uninspired on a day to day basis. I needed a break from my career, so the idea of a gap year was very appealing to me.

In that moment, the idea of quitting my job and taking a gap year seemed pretty far fetched, but nonetheless — a seed was planted.

As I started my google search for “How to take a gap year” my attention was quickly diverted back to the never-ending storm of work emails flooding my inbox. In that moment, the idea of quitting my job and taking a gap year seemed pretty far fetched, but nonetheless — a seed was planted.

As the years went by, the insatiable desire to take a gap year intensified as the allure of climbing up the corporate ladder and waiting until retirement to live my best life started to fade. The real turning point for me occurred when my dad passed away — before retirement age. His death hit me like a ton of bricks, as it forced me to face the reality that tomorrow was not promised and that my time on Earth was limited.

Coming to grips with my dad’s passing catapulted my gap year journey. I began researching how much money I would need to fund my gap year and started an aggressive savings plan for what I called my “quit fund”.

As each month passed and I got closer and closer to reaching my savings goal, the gravity of the journey I was about to embark on both frightened and excited me. When I finally reached my goal, my resignation email sat in my drafts folder for almost a month before I FINALLY found the courage to take the leap of faith and quit my job.

I had convinced myself that my success and identity were tied to my career which was why the idea of quitting my job without a source of income in the pipeline was so daunting.

When I reflect back on the experience it surprises me that the most difficult parts of my journey were mental — not the financial or planning aspects. I had convinced myself that my success and identity were tied to my career which was why the idea of quitting my job without a source of income in the pipeline was so daunting. Thankfully, much to my surprise, quitting my job was just the tip of the iceberg for an amazing journey which I now call, my growth year.

Now that I am six months into my journey (at the time of writing this post) I feel inspired to share some insights as well as this practical 4 Step Planning Guide to serve as a resource for anyone considering a gap year, sabbatical or career break. For those of you embarking on a life-changing journey, I hope you find the guide and the insights below useful, even if your journey is not in the form of a traditional gap year. I look forward to sharing more insights with you all so don’t forget to subscribe to my blog if you are interested in receiving updates.

12 TIPS TO HELP YOU TURN YOUR GAP YEAR INTO YOUR GROWTH YEAR:

1. Be fearless and intentional about pursuing your gap year. Initially I didn’t have the confidence to think that I could actually quit my job and save enough money to support myself financially for an entire year. It’s weird wanting something so badly that you share it with every and anybody willing to listen and yet in the same breath not feeling confident enough to take the necessary actions towards making your dream a reality. Once I got the courage to set my intentions and silence my doubts, I was unstoppable.

2. Be prepared to make some sacrifices. A big aspect of my financial plan involved reducing my monthly costs so that I could increase how much money I was putting towards my “quit fund”. This meant living in a studio instead of a more spacious one bedroom unit, buying a used car instead of the new luxury one that I wanted and limiting my travel in the months leading up to me taking the big leap.

3. Demonstrate the beauty of what is called “the graceful exit”. In most cases, embarking on a gap year will involve quitting your job. Regardless of your situation, I encourage you to end on good note or at least end on an amicable one. Your exit does not have to be a dramatic one.

4. Devote some time to your passion. Having a passion project or something that you feel intrinsically motivated to devote time to is essential. For me, this was traveling, scrapbooking and starting this travel blog, Feet Meets Land. It gave me something to look forward to each day and allowed me to tap into other talents that I would not have otherwise discovered, such as video editing.

5. Give yourself adequate time to fully enjoy the journey. Time will go by way faster than you think so take this into consideration when planning your timeline and budget. For the first couple of weeks after I quit, I allowed myself time to simply decompress from the last ten years of working a high burn consulting career. I didn’t start to work on my passion project until the second quarter of my gap year.

6. Have a solid support system. During your journey, there will be parts of your experience that others will not understand however, do not feel like you have to deal with challenges alone. Lean on your support system when you need to. If you don’t have family and friends that you can reach out to look into social media communities or groups as a source of support and resources.

7. Be kind to yourself. Come to terms with the fact that everyday doesn’t have to be productive. I spent a good portion of my time sleeping. Yes, you read that correctly, SLEEPING as in catching my zzzzz’s. My body and soul needed the rest.

8. Set boundaries with others. Because you aren’t working, everyone will assume that your time and energy is available for them to use at their leisure. The reality is, you didn’t quit your job just to give up all your free time to other people. Set boundaries upfront and prioritize the things that are the most important to you. For me, the physical boundary of living overseas during my gap year (and not physically being accessible), made it easier to set other boundaries relating to my time and energy.

9. Be flexible. Shit happens. When I started this journey I had plans of living MY BEST LIFE, traversing the globe without a care in the world. Fast forward to three months into my journey, COVID19 hits and the pandemic results in travel bans across the globe. Although I was initially disappointed in my cancelled travel plans, I used this quarantine time as an opportunity to start writing, creating and learning.

10. Try new things and EXPLORE!!! Your gap year is a great opportunity to do some things that you haven’t prioritized or made time for in the past. For me this included doing some travel writing and taking an amazing online blogging course. I was also inspired to start my natural hair journey during my gap year so I cut off ALL my hair and shaved my head bald. As someone who had been getting relaxers for the past 20+ years, it was extremely liberating and I am not sure if I would have ever found the courage to start my natural hair journey if it wasn’t for my gap year.

11. Let the experience be an authentic journey. Allow your gap year to be your own genuine experience, driven by your true ambitions and not other people’s expectations. Make the journey worthwhile by giving yourself the liberty to change tracks mid journey if needed, without feeling the need to explain it to anyone. I may want to be a travel blogger on Monday and by Tuesday I want to be a matchmaker. And guess what, that’s ok…it’s my life, I may even do both!

12. Embrace your growth. When you embark on this life changing journey, growth will inevitably occur. The growth will be uncomfortable at times, but the discomfort is a necessary part of the process. Trust the process.

Coaching services include but are not limited to:

• Gap Year Workbook (more detailed than the guide)
• 1 on 1 Coaching
• Group Coaching Calls
• Gap Year Budget Planning and Advice
• Gap Year Checklist
• Gap Year Readiness Assessment
• Access to a Community of Fellow “Gappers”
• and more…

So if you are ready to take the next step in pursuing your gap experience, I look forward to guiding you through this life-changing journey!